Short stories, all with pictures

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Monthly Archives: September 2013

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As many tourists do we visited the Cu Chi tunnels outside of Ho Chi Minh City. Started in the 1940’s then added to in the “American war” in the 60’s and 70’s the tunnel complex is a vast network of tunnels dug by hand into the hard clay of the Cu Chi province. The tunnels were home to the Viet Minh, then the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese Army and housed thousands, with a full compliment of kitchens, hospitals, […]

Christmas in Ho Chi Minh was turning out to be a very good time, we spent the days walking around the city, visiting places, wishing people happy Christmas and eating. Lunchtime became a regular visit to the Banh Mi shop round the corner from our hotel near to the Ben Thanh market. The Banh Mi were French bread rolls filled with crispy pork belly, pickled vegetables and chillies. These went down a treat, washed down by freshly squeezed orange juice […]

For those that don’t know Verity is Damien Hirst’s 20 year bronze- clad loan to Ilfracombe and stands 66 feet high at the end of the harbour looking out to sea. Apologies for the lack of posting recently but we’ve been finding somewhere new to live, and in a months time will be moving here. Back to the seaside after five years of country and city life: can’t wait.

We had been looking forward to Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon for a while and for several reasons. We’d been told it was going to be manic and an onslaught on our senses, 9 million people and 3 ½ million motorbikes, 29oC and then the humidity. The food, the history, Christmas in a foreign city and then something much more personal: a reunion with a cousin who we’d not seen in close to 25 years. He had left the […]